The Supreme Court has reopened a challenge to key provisions of the Affordable Care Act — one that was dismissed by a lower court last year on technical grounds, but could now become the staging ground for a new judicial fight over a piece of the law known as the employer mandate. The challenge was brought by Liberty University, which charged that the law’s individual and employer mandates violate the institution’s religious freedom. The Virginia-based Christian college, founded by Jerry Falwell, argues that the law’s requirement that large organizations provide employees insurance could lead to the forced funding of abortion, which it says violates the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case in September of last year on the grounds that taxpayers cannot challenge the legality of taxes that haven’t yet been assessed against them — a consequence of a century-and-a-half old law called the Anti-Injunction Act. But in its Affordable Care Act ruling this past June, the Supreme Court dismissed the standing argument, implicitly conceding that taxpayers may challenge the ACA’s mandates, even ones that have yet to take effect — providing Liberty an opening to move forward with its case. The Court agreed, and has ordered the Fourth Circuit to rehear Liberty’s case. Read more http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/...-liberty-lawsuit-obamacare.php?ref=fpnewsfeed
